In the simplest of terms, Wincon is a long-weekend in October where people from fandom come together to talk about the things they love best.

To elaborate, Wincon started out as Winchestercon in 2006, a Supernatural (the television show) fan con founded by ethrosdemon and estrella30, and was managed by ethrosdemon and coiledsoul from Los Angeles in 2007 through Chicago in 2010. Over the years, the con has evolved to become what it is today: a multi-fandom event held in a different city each year.

We’re a celebration of fandom with panels and structured events. We are the internet in all its glory, come to life. We are a place to get together with old friends, discover new ones, and talk about everything that makes us squee.

Wincon is run by a cooperative, 100% volunteer con committee headed by lead organizers Amber Charleville and Mary Moline. For more information, see our staff page.

Wincon’s mission is to bring together a diverse group of internet-based media fans in an inclusive environment to engage in fannish activities and foster meaningful connections. We aim to provide programming created and led by attendees, on topics drawn from a variety of sources and involving everything from detailed meta to wildly creative fanworks, encompassing all aspects of fandom culture.

No official personnel from any fandom is affiliated with this convention, nor will there be any appearances by any show actors, celebrities, writers, or other personnel. It’s all about us, the fans, and the way we express ourselves and our love for fandom.

In short: Yes. If you want to talk about it, chances are pretty good there’s someone else at Wincon who’ll jump right into that conversation. Our attendees’ (and Con Committee’s) interests run the full spectrum of fannish pursuits, and we attempt to build programming that reflects that with your input and assistance.

In past years, the average attendance of Wincon was around 100 people. 2015’s event will see format changes allowing us to raise our cap to 300 attendees, with a minimum of 250 expected to attend.

No, Wincon is not a women-only event. We welcome people of many and varied gender identities and backgrounds, including but not limited to cis and trans women and men and people with nonbinary or other identities. We here at Wincon understand the complexities of gender and sexuality and do not seek to define or limit our attendees in this regard. If you have further questions, you may contact us at: winconhq@omgwincon.com

Yes, our harassment policy can be found here.

Wincon strives to be accessible to all fans. Our event facilities are always provided by an ADA-accessible hotel, which houses our Panels, Roundtables, Fandom Lounge, and Prom. We are happy to work with our attendees to the best of our abilities on this matter and encourage you to email us with your requests, questions or concerns related to any special needs or accessibility issues: winconhq@omgwincon.com

Yes, you must be 18 on or before the first day of the con in order to attend.

Wincon respects and enforces the drinking laws of its host city each year. As such, you must be 21 to consume or be served alcohol in the con spaces. We encourage safe drinking habits and personal responsibility, as well as respecting others’ decision to remain sober.

While Wincon and its staff are not liable for the actions and decisions of its attendees, particularly outside of con spaces, the Con Committee itself always has several sober hands on deck in the hotel throughout the event, just in case.

The Con Committee responds directly to any violations of policy at the time they are reported. If and when our policies are transgressed, we address the individual(s) involved directly. We do not base policy or our handling of policy violations upon hearsay. We protect the privacy of victims or witnesses who come forward to report incidents to us.

At our discretion, and based upon the severity and nature of the violation, transgressors may be given (but are not guaranteed) one or more warnings before being banned from the con space for the remainder of the day, event, and/or all future Wincon and Winconferences, LLC events.

For more detailed information, please see our Terms of Use and Harassment Policy.

No, only con attendees are allowed in official con spaces. You may hang out with your friend/significant other any place in the hotel that is not an official con space, such as the bars, restaurants, lobby, or your hotel room. When someone is an official attendee, that implies their agreement to our Terms of Use, Harassment Policy, and other guidelines and policies. We don’t own the hotel, but we do need to be able to control our own spaces as much as possible.

 

However, when availability permits, we do sell a limited number of one day tickets on the ground. These tickets are sold on a first-come first-served basis, exclusively on-site, and include a name badge and program book. For further questions, contact us at: winconhq@omgwincon.com

You sure can, and we are so flattered by the inquiry! Wincon is running an Indiegogo campaign until January 5th, 2015, which needs your support! There are tons of great perks you can get, even if you are unable to attend Wincon. No donation is too small – every little bit helps, and for $5 you can get a special mention on our website and in our program book because you are an awesome individual! The more you donate, the more awesome perks you can get! For more info or to purchase, see here or feel free to email us: winconhq@omgwincon.com

Awesome! You can definitely volunteer and we have openings for everything from year-round stuff (logistics, planning, and marketing) to on-the-ground shenanigans (registration, decorating, and moderating). If you’re interested in pre-con volunteering, please see here. If you’re interested in volunteering on-site, keep a lookout on the LiveJournal Community or sign up for the mailing list. Wendy makes a post closer to October to start rounding folks up, or you can contact her directly at wendy@omgwincon.com!

• Nashville, Tennessee – October 13-15, 2006
• Los Angeles, California – October 12-14, 2007
• Baltimore, Maryland – October 17-19, 2008
• Denver, Colorado – October 9-11, 2009
• Chicago, Illinois – October 15-17, 2010
• New Orleans, Louisiana – October 14-16, 2011
• Dallas, Texas – October 18-21, 2012
• Las Vegas, Nevada – October 10-13, 2013
• Orlando, Florida – October 16-19, 2014
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – October 15-18, 2015

A weekend ticket for Wincon may be purchased on our registration page, which also provides further details, options, and pricing information.

No, we discontinued this practice in 2010.

Only authorized personnel on staff will ever see the personal information you enter when you register. The only information shared publicly at the con are the names submitted for the front/back of your badge. However, you must provide a government-issued ID during check-in to verify your name and age.

 

For further information, please see our Privacy Policy.

Wincon 2015 will be held at the lovely Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown! You can find out more information on the hotel, room rates, and how to book by visiting our travel page.

Pittsburgh International Airport is the closest airport servicing the area. For more information, please see our transportation page.

The on site programming includes panels, roundtables, workshops, demonstrations, crafts, and other events. We try to cover as many fandoms and interests as we can, based on the feedback from past and present Wincon attendees. Previous programming can be seen here.

We have four tracks for Wincon 2015: one panel room fitting approximately 125-150 people, one smaller panel room fitting 75 people, one workshop space fitting approximately 50, and one roundtable room accommodating 30 people.

You can request the type of space which will work best for your idea, but please be advised the con committee reserves the right to move it to the space we think is most appropriate. However, we’ll never stick you in a bigger room without consulting you first.

All of Wincon’s programming is created by its attendees, and absolutely any who is registered for the convention can submit programming ideas! Panel submissions will run from March 1st through April 17th. You can pitch a panel, roundtable, or workshop by filling out the submission form completely, and submitting it to the Programming Committee. We encourage everyone interested to submit their ideas; please be advised, however, that not all programming will be accepted due to time and space constraints. Ideas may also be combined if we receive similar pitches, but this will not be done without notification.

We are looking for a variety of panels and workshops, which appeal to the widest range of attendees. We are a multi-fandom convention, so we would love to accept pitches for genre specific and pan-fandom panels such as: medical dramas, reality shows, crime procedurals, BBC, comics, and the like. We also love fandom meta and discussions about fandom culture. Be creative!

We also welcome programming that is fandom-specific, and we would love to get your submissions for roundtable discussions on whatever your current (or past!) fandom favorite is.

We encourage all ideas and fandoms as potential subjects. A subject should be broad enough to fill fifty minutes, but specific enough to guide the conversation or activity. If you have an idea, but need help fleshing it out into a panel or event, or if you’re dying to talk about a topic but want someone else to run it with you, our brainstorming post is here to help you!

Panels allow a small group of attendees with particular interest or expertise in a topic to lead a discussion with a large group. Panels may include a lot of audience participation, or may be structured so that panelists can share and discuss their viewpoints. Panel topics often include subjects of multifandom interest, like the representation of women in canon, supernatural worldbuilding, or writing good kink fic.

You don’t have to be an expert in any particular topic to run a panel on it, you just need the desire to talk about it with a big group of people (and a couple of other panelists), and something to say!

Workshops give attendees a chance to learn something new, or hone their skills. They are smaller than panels to allow participants to ask questions and get feedback. Past workshops have included live beta reading, art tips and tricks, and making fannish plushies.

Roundtables are small, intimate discussions focused on a specific theme. They will have a moderator, but no formal panel structure. Roundtables often focus on topics of single-fandom or niche interest. Typically, roundtables are the equivalent of a group discussion where the person running the show suggests topics of conversation.

That’s what our brainstorming post is for! This post is open for comments and discussion as of February 2nd, and will remain open until the end of the submission period. If you have an idea about something you want to see, leave a comment here.

Unfortunately, in order for your programming idea to be eligible for voting, you must be able to list someone who is willing to be on it. We can provide a moderator for panels, but if you have a roundtable or workshop idea that you don’t want to run, you will need to find someone else to run it for you. Again, leave your ideas on our brainstorming post! You never know, there might be a dozen fans who didn’t know they were waiting to talk about your idea until now.

A list of everything that has been submitted for this year’s convention can be located at the top of the submission form. It is updated every time someone submits a programming idea, and is updated daily.

There’s no crying in fandom. We’ll be opening panel/workshop/roundtable submissions to a vote (sans submitter’s name) to gauge attendee interest. Just make sure you vote and you get your friends who are attending to vote, too! You have to be a registered attendee to vote on programming, so register early! Voting opens on May 1st and will run for one month.

The final schedule will be posted in fall 2015 and will be available here.

We hold a multi-fandom vid show every year. The solicitation request is usually posted in late June, and the entry deadline is typically in early September. Each vidder may submit up to 3 works, and we privately inform each vidder if their work is selected as soon as possible after the deadline. For more information, click here.

The Fandom Lounge is a place that fosters creativity and informal discussion. At any given moment, there’s at least one game of Cards Against Humanity happening, and there is always someone to admire your latest button or craft project. With complimentary wireless, DVD player, screen, projector, tables, chairs, and floor space, the Fandom Lounge is designed to accommodate creative use, meet ups and discussions, and refueling and relaxing between activities. It’s where we meet new friends, catch up with old ones, and it is where we kick off and wind down Wincon each year. It will be the center of the action all weekend. For more information, see here.

We will have a dedicated space for vendors in the Fandom Lounge. For details on how to become a vendor at Wincon 2015, check out this page!

Wincon’s prom is about community, positive self-expression, acceptance, and celebrating everyone’s individuality and amazingness. It’s also a big dance party with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and more sparkling lights than you can shake a stick at. We dance, we eat, we drink, we dance some more, and we come together in the true spirit of Wincon and fandom.

For more info about Winprom, click here.

The Wincon Charity is a Kiva Account. Our page is here. All funds support micro loans to individuals around the world who wish to start/expand their businesses in order to attain self-sufficiency for themselves and their families. As the loans are repaid, our Kiva account is credited and we can loan the money again to new recipients. It’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.

You can contact Chris at raffle@omgwincon.com. She will assist you in shipping or delivering your raffle donation to the hotel.

While no off-site activities are part of the official Wincon programming, many are planned in advance by attendees and staff and will be listed on the website and program book. They become an essential part of many people’s unofficial weekend plans.

For more details or to see other off-site activities planned, please see the off-site activities page.

Absolutely! All off-site activities posted to the website and/or included in the Wincon program book are open to any attendee, but space restrictions may apply. Extra costs related to these activities are not included in the price of your Wincon registration. Prices and space availability are always posted with the activity’s information. To stay up to date on all Wincon activities, sign up for the mailing list.

To include your activity in the Wincon program book, on the website, or have it posted to the community, you must welcome any attendee who wishes to attend (though space restrictions are acceptable, so long as a first come, first served policy is in place). You must be willing to field any/all questions related to your activity. Clear pricing details must be available. To submit an off-site activity for inclusion, please fill out and complete this form.